The present invention relates to continuous flow recycling systems for cleaning carpeted floors and other substantially planar surfaces, and more particularly to a portable, upright and self-contained continuous-flow recycling device.
Continuous-flow recycling has gained widespread acceptance as a particularly effective technique for cleaning carpets, upholstery, fabric, wall coverings and hard surfaces such as ceramics. According to this technique, a liquid cleaning solution is sprayed toward the carpet or other surface being cleaned. A vacuum source creates a high velocity air stream that draws the atomized liquid toward and into the carpet. Almost immediately, however, the air stream is diverted to draw the liquid upwardly out of the carpet and at the same time extract soil, debris and other foreign matter to clean the carpet. The rapid and abrupt change in direction promotes efficient recovery of most of the cleaning solution, prevents undesirable soaking of the carpet backing, and substantially reduces drying time.
Continuous-flow recycling systems typically include a tank of liquid cleaning solution supported on a wheel-mounted base or framework. A motor and liquid pump for circulating the cleaning solution and a vacuum motor and pump for recovering the solution and returning the solution to the tank, also are mounted on the framework. The cleaning head is not integral with the framework, but rather is coupled to the solution tank through pliable hosing and thus is movable independently. Frequently the connection includes a wand or other length of rigid tubing to enable the operator to orient the head or other cleaning tool by handling the wand.
This arrangement requires considerable lengths of pliable hosing for supplying the cleaning solution to the head or other cleaning tool and for recovering the atomized solution (immediately after cleaning) and returning the solution to the tank by a vacuum. If desired, the liquid supply hose can be contained within the vacuum return hosing and wand. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,155 (Grave). Patents describing the cleaning heads or tools used in these systems include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,649,594 and 4,720,889, both issued to Grave.
The use of independent cleaning heads or other tools affords several advantages, the most prominent being the ease in manipulating the tool without having to move the tank or canister. The tool is readily applied to non-horizontal surfaces, e.g. to clean walls or upholstered furniture.
The independent wand/tool arrangement also gives rise to difficulties, however. One of these is the excessive lengths of tubing between the canister and head. This reduces efficiencies in the supply of liquid to the area to be cleaned, and in the vacuum recovery of the liquid. The canister, pump and motor assembly is cumbersome to handle and store. Also, since the wand and cleaning tool are entirely subject to operator control, proper orientation of the tool for optimal cleaning depends upon the skill of the operator.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, self-contained vacuum operated cleaning apparatus in which a cleaning head or other tool is mounted to the housing of the device in a manner that better insures correct orientation of the cleaning tool during use of the device.
Another object is to provide a compact, lightweight, self-contained cleaning device that is easier to use and requires less storage space than a comparable system employing a canister and independent cleaning tool.
A further object is to provide a vacuum cleaning system employing a recycled liquid cleaning solution, in which the vacuum and cleaning solution paths between a solution tank and cleaning tool are shortened to minimize losses in efficiency.
Yet another object is to provide a means to positively support a cleaning head or other cleaning tool with respect to a wheel-supported housing, which aligns the tool yet provides limited freedom for tool rotation about two perpendicular axes parallel to the surface being cleaned, while cooperating with a vacuum source to control the tool position and orientation relative to the surface being cleaned.